Dwelling values finally on track for recovery

According to CoreLogic Property Pulse, Australian housing values landed just 0.1 per cent below the previous record seen in October 2017, with Perth, Brisbane and Hobart surpassing their March 2020 highs by December.

“March 2020 is a good yardstick for measuring the impact of COVID on housing markets. That is because it encompasses the ‘start’ of COVID in Australia, when the country reached the milestone of 100 cases diagnosed, and subsequently stage 2 restrictions rolled out nationally,” according to Eliza Owen, head of research at CoreLogic.

Further, Darwin, Canberra and Adelaide consistently saw value increases since March 2020, with Darwin values up 8.3 per cent since the onset of the pandemic.

Canberra followed with a price increase of 5.8 per cent, with Adelaide and Hobart clocking growth of 5.2 per cent and 4.6 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, Brisbane housing values expanded 2 per cent, while Perth followed with 1.0 per cent growth.

Some of the strongest value increases since March are located in areas that did see a COVID-induced decline, including Kwinana in Perth (up 8.7 per cent), Burnside in Adelaide (up 7.0 per cent) and Scenic Rim in Brisbane (up 6.5 per cent). But, according to CoreLogic, most of the markets with a strong recovery had seen relatively mild downturns to begin with.

On the contrary, Sydney and Melbourne stood as the only capital cities to clock value declines between March and December, at -1.2 per cent and -4.1 per cent, respectively.

Of the 10 council regions where values have been most impacted since the onset of the pandemic, eight were located across Melbourne, and two were in Sydney.

But despite this downward trend, Ms Owen is confident in their recovery, noting that “as long as economic conditions continue to recover and mortgage rates remain at record lows”, more markets are likely to move into recovery mode.